Monday, December 14, 2015

Book Review - Art of Memoir

Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club was a sensational
memoir. She followed it up with Cherry and Lit. Now
she’s using her skills as a writer and years as a professor and combining the
two for The Art of Memoir. It is not a step by step how-to book,
but rather a general discussion of the elements needed to put a personal story
down on paper. From the cover blurb – she breaks open our concepts of memory
and identity, and illuminates the cathartic power of reflecting on the
past: anybody with an inner life or complicated history, whether writer or
reader, will relate.

She uses other writers as examples and also delves into her
own process. She admits to fear. She describes the concern of baring her soul,
facing demons, and dealing with her own family and their perspective on their
roles in her life. Mary Karr says, “ In some ways, writing a memoir is knocking
yourself out with your own fist, if it’s done right.”

Everyone has a story, but how do you make yours interesting
to others? She discusses all the senses and how to throw your reader into
the life you are depicting. She says, “ Everyone has a past, and every past
spawns fierce and fiery emotions about what it means.” If you are writing a
memoir, you are taking a side and trying to be fair in the exposition of the
tale. Will the reader stay on your side? Or will they drift and wonder what you
are hiding? It’s a dance of sorts, and words are the musical pacing.

I enjoyed The Art of Memoir and marked off
many pages for the wisdom, wit, and advice Ms. Karr shares. She’s been a
favorite writer of mine and does not disappoint. P. 215 Writing, regardless
of the end result – whether good or bad, published or not, well reviewed or
slammed – means celebrating beauty in an often ugly world. And you do that by
fighting for elegance and beauty, redoing or cutting the flabby, disordered
parts. Whether you are a writer or a reader, The Art of Memoir
will strike a chord in your heart and have you digging into your own life story.

Wordsplash Hodgepodge

Athletic Antics

About Me

Joanne Faries, originally from the Philadelphia area, lives in Texas with her husband Ray. She considers herself fortunate to be able to pursue a writing career after eons in the business world. Joanne enjoys reading and movies, and is the film critic for the Little Paper of San Saba.